Prolonged Exposure (PE), developed by Dr. Foa, is the most empirically supported therapy for PTSD; in 8-15 sessions the vast majority of patients treated with PE show substantial reduction in severity of PTSD and related psychiatric problems. â€śThousands of mental health professionals in the U.S. and abroad have been taught how to deliver PE to their PTSD patients,â€ť said Dr. Foa. â€śBut questions remain about whether providing supervision to clinicians after they have completed a training workshop in PE increases their ability to effectively use the newly learned therapy in their clinical practice.â€ť

With an estimated 14 percent of U.S. military personnel returning from war with PTSD, it is critical to have an extensive force of well-trained mental health professionals available to support these soldiers. â€śUnfortunately, there is a limited availability of clinicians who have been effectively trained at using evidence based therapies that we know are most likely to help these patients,â€ť said Carmen McLean, PhD , assistant professor of Clinical Psychology in Psychiatry and co-investigator of the new study. â€śWe need to determine the most effective and efficient ways to train these mental health professionals in PE so they can make the biggest impact for the men and women coming back from combat.â€ť

Multimedia

The American Council on Education (ACE) honored Penn President Amy Gutmann with the 2015 Reginald Wilson Diversity Leadership Award. The award is given annually to an individual who has made outstanding contributions and demonstrated sustained commitment to diversity in higher education.

From Harare, Zimbabwe, Rutendo Chigora is a senior double majoring in international relations and political science, and minoring in English. In December, she was awarded one of the two Rhodes Scholarships available to students from Zimbabwe. She will study at the University of Oxford in Oxford,...

A leader in the rapidly changing field of epigenetics, Shelley L. Berger has built a world-class epigenetics program at Penn that she says is distinguished by the diverse and relevant expertise of the science faculty associated with it.